Thunder
Date: February 21, 2001
Location: Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, Alabama
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone

It’s hard to believe we’ve got less than a month to go. The last pay per view is called Greed because the wrestling universe is funny that was. Earlier this week we found out that Diamond Dallas Page was the next challenger for Scott Steiner, mainly because there’s pretty much no one left to do it. Let’s get to it.

We open with Kwee Wee issuing an open challenge. Brace yourselves.

Kwee Wee vs. Kaz Hayashi

Kaz is ready to go here and kicks Kwee Wee to the floor for a big flip dive. Back in and it’s Angry Alan time as Kwee Wee punches Kaz down and suplexes him into the corner. The aggression gets toned down a bit with a vertical suplex. Kwee Wee tries a German suplex to complete the trifecta but gets kicked in the chest instead. They head outside with Kwee Wee missing a dive and getting caught in a hurricanrana to send him into the steps. Back in and Kwee Wee gets crotched on the top, setting up a slinghot DDT for the upset (I think?) win.

Rating: C+. This was better than I was expecting and a very nice way to open the show. I’m very happy to see one of the cruiserweights finally get a win over anyone other than the same five people and it’s not like Kwee Wee has any chance to go anywhere after losing to Mike Sanders.

Post match Kaz gets planted by a piledriver to keep things even.

The Boogie Knights agree to team up one more time to face AJ Styles and Air Paris for an easy win. I think I know where this is going.

Here’s Hugh Morrus with something to say. He wants to get his hands on Rick Steiner for what happened to Lash Leroux on Monday (At least that squash wasn’t completely pointless) but it’s Scott coming out instead. The distraction lets Rick sneak in but a bunch of low level guys run out to chase the Steiners off. You know, like they would ever run away from anyone other than a main eventer.

The Magnificent Seven is here with Flair making some matches for later. Apparently Kanyon hangs out with them now but isn’t exactly magnificent.

Shawn Stasiak and Mark Jindrak jump Big Vito.

Air Paris/AJ Styles vs. Boogie Knights

Paris and Wright get things going with Alex knocking him down into the corner. An atomic drop/spinwheel kick combo puts Paris down so it’s off to Styles, who is beaten down just as quickly. That means it’s time for some Alex dancing and a tag to Disco, whose mere presence sends AJ over for a tag off to Paris. This goes badly too as the Knights are too much for the power of Air.

A missile dropkick Doomsday Device drops Paris again but he’s able to punch Disco in the ribs and make the hot tag off to AJ. Styles gets two off a tornado DDT as everything breaks down. AJ takes both of them down with a big flip dive to the floor and Paris does the same to Wright. Back in and AJ hits a high cross body for the pin on Disco and the big upset.

Rating: C. You can tell the good guys are still young and in need of ring time but they’re also exciting enough to warrant a spot in the upcoming Cruiserweight Tag Team Title tournament. Neither is really setting the world on fire yet but beating a known team, even one as inept as the Knights, will help them a lot.

Kid Romeo is still coming.

Shawn Stasiak vs. Big Vito

Despite the earlier attack, Stasiak comes out to issue a challenge here. Vito goes right after him to start and easily takes over, likely because he’s facing Shawn Stasiak. The suplex and flying elbow get a quick near fall for Big but Shawn pops back up for some lame brawling. Vito kicks him in the head (always works), only to have Shawn grab a neckbreaker for the quick pin.

Crowbar really doesn’t like what Jeff Jarrett did to disrespect Dusty Rhodes on Monday. Revenge is promised tonight. After the Terry Funk feud, this really does feel like something Crowbar would do.

Video on Hugh Morrus.

The Cat/Diamond Dallas Page vs. Kanyon/Buff Bagwell

Kanyon brags about Kanyon Cutting Page and Miss Jones because he’s that awesome of a heel. Cat runs out with a chair to clear the ring before introducing Page like he’s a surprise, even though Page was already announced as being in this match. Page and Kanyon get things going though Page pauses to hit Bagwell in the face first. Cat comes in to get two off Page’s clothesline before Bagwell easily pounds him down in the corner because Cat just isn’t that good.

It’s back to Page who has some better luck due to being Diamond Dallas Page but the double arm DDT gets two for Bagwell. Some simple double teaming gets two more and Kanyon’s slingshot elbow gets the same. Page gets in a discus lariat to put Kanyon down, allowing the hot tag off to Kanyon. Everything breaks down with Page sending Kanyon outside and into the crowd, leaving Cat to hit the Feliner for the pin on Bagwell.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Crowbar

Feeling out process to start before a sitout hiptoss of all things gets two on Jeff. A Lionsault (not the Asai Moonsault Tony) gets the same but Jeff does the sleeper reversal sequence to send Crowbar over the top with a belly to back suplex. Crowbar comes up holding his knee because that happens to every opponent of someone who uses a Figure Four. Some shots to the knee don’t do much good as Crowbar gets in some right hands in the corner, followed by a northern lights suplex for two. Not that it matters as Jeff kicks him in the knee again and grabs the Stroke for the pin.

Rating: C. This would be Crowbar’s last match and it was nice to get to see him have a decent one on his way out. It’s also kind of a shame that he’s stuck in this role while Dustin Rhodes and Jeff Jarrett get a feud and a pay per view payday out of this because they’re both veterans who aren’t going to draw anything but why let that get in their way?

Jeff loads up Shattered Dreams but Dustin Rhodes comes out for the save.

Ric tells Rick and Animal to take out Hugh Morrus to keep Scott free tonight.

Long Shane Douglas video, basically saying he hates Flair because Flair wouldn’t mentor him as a rookie. That’s a fine reason for a face turn, especially considering their real life issues, but Shane Douglas, especially this Shane Douglas, is as natural of a heel as you’ll find in WCW.

Sean O’Haire is banned from ringside for the next match. To make things worse, Buff Bagwell gives him a cheap shot.

Lex Luger vs. Chuck Palumbo

Before the match, Luger goes on a rant about how Palumbo wanted to be him and how rich he is because of his amazing abilities. A GOLDBERG chant cuts him off but Luger gets back to the point: he and Bagwell are winning the titles. Palumbo runs him over with a clothesline to start but Luger takes it to the floor to beat him down. Some forearms to the back set up the powerslam but Palumbo small packages him for the quick pin as Luger goes to pick him up for the Rack.

Rating: D-. This was barely long enough to rate and Luger was his usual self. At least Palumbo won but it would have been nice to see him get in more than two or three bits of offense throughout. This is much more acceptable as long as Luger or Buff lay down for the finisher at Greed and it’s not some screwy finish where the young guys get a fluke win.

O’Haire can’t wait to hurt Luger and Bagwell. As I had to ask about Goldberg: why is he slumming it with those two? Is this really supposed to be a rub? I know Luger has a great resume but can anyone honestly believe a win over him means something at this point?

Morrus locks Animal and Rick Steiner in a locker room before the main event. Smart big man.

Hugh Morrus vs. Scott Steiner

Non-title. Steiner beats him into the corner to start and calls fans white trash while firing off chops. A powerbomb out of the corner drops Morrus and the slow beating continues. Steiner is nice enough to send him outside and then right back in, only to stop to tell a fan that their mother sucks. Those should be fighting words but Steiner is too busy yelling at a referee.

Morrus gets in a whip into the steps for a breather and a powerslam gets two. This is already far more competitive than the previous match. No Laughing Matter is broken up by an electric chair though and Scott gets in the spinning belly to belly for two. Morrus drops him again but we cut to Rick and Animal breaking out of the locker room. Scott doesn’t really need the help though as he belly to belly superplexes Hugh into the Recliner (an even worse version than usual) for the knockout.

Rating: C-. Morrus is another guy that I feel a bit sorry for. He was clearly working hard and had a strong enough connection with the crowd to possibly be an upper midcard guy but he’s pretty much peaked with back to back pun names. Just let him be called Bill Demott and wrestle his fast paced big man style and he would have been fine. But no, instead let’s have him laugh a lot, adding a grand total of nothing to his character.

Post match Steiner loads up the pipe but stops to tell Page to come out here. That’s exactly what he gets and a brawl wraps up the show with Rick helping his brother out.

Overall Rating: C. This was a really easy show to sit through as the angles were advanced and there wasn’t a lot of time spent on talking. I think that’s been one of the major things holding back Nitro lately: they talk almost as much as a modern WWE show and it gets really tiring sitting there waiting on the rushed matches to start up. This wasn’t anything great but WCW being an easy two hours is a nice improvement for them.

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Thunder
Date: February 7, 2001
Location: Bankcorpsouth Center, Tupelo, Mississippi
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay

Amazingly enough, we’re coming in off a surprise heel turn this past Monday as Rick Steiner joined up with Flair’s group to reunited with his brother yet again. They really aren’t even hiding the fact that this is another NWO clone and I really don’t think anyone minds at this point. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Scott Steiner’s rough night, which means he wrestled about ten minutes over three matches.

Shane Helms vs. Kaz Hayashi

This is a qualifying match for a six man elimination #1 contenders match at SuperBrawl. Kaz flips out of a wristlock to start and runs over Shane with a shoulder. Shane flips up and it’s an early standoff. Kaz gets smart and kicks at the leg but his springboard DDT is countered into a northern lights suplex over the top. Helms hits a big cross body to the floor but bangs up his knee in the process.

Back in and Kaz moonsaults over and before headscissoring Shane right back to the floor. Kaz gets in a dive of his own but can’t hit a top rope hurricanrana. A good looking superkick puts Kaz down and a running neckbreaker does it again. Shane wants the Vertebreaker but here’s Chavo Guerrero for a distraction, allowing Kaz to grab a German suplex for the upset.

Rating: C+. This was a nice surprise and I can dig the idea of Chavo being worried about facing Helms again in the future and taking him out here. Kaz winning is a bit odd but there’s not much of a chance of him adse corner before breaking up an enziguri with another right hand. Smiley jumps over him in the corner and does a bit of dancing but stops to look for Glacier. A clothesline sets up the Seanton Bomb for the easy pin.

Post match Mark Jindrak comes in as a distraction so Shawn Stasiak can come in for the beatdown. Something is edited out as O’Haire came back in from the apron and kicks both guys down. The beatdown is on again until Palumbo makes the save.

Flair gives Sanders Konnan tonight.

Team Canada comes out with Storm picking Elix Skipper to face Cat.

The Cat vs. Elix Skipper

Cat superkicks him to start but Skipper pops up and starts hitting on Miss Jones. At least he has good taste. Skipper takes him to the floor for a whip into the barricade. Back in and Cat starts firing off the kicks, followed by a running ax handle and the Feliner for the quick pin.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as usual as being the Commissioner (which may have been on the line here but it wasn’t clear) doesn’t mean a ton aside from just opposing Flair. Skipper should be in the Cruiserweight Title hunt and Cat should be doing almost anything other than being a regular wrestler but at least he has a personality.

Post match Storm offers a distraction so Mike Awesome can take Cat out.

Totally Buff is ready for Kronik. They should be after facing them so many times.

Chavo Guerrero asks Wall to take out Rey Mysterio tonight. Hugh Morrus is heard laughing.

Kwee Wee asks a few jobbers (one of whom is Chris Harris) to fight him later tonight. One of them doesn’t take kindly to this and seems game later.

Flair tells Scott Steiner to worry about Nash and ignore everything else.

Lex Luger vs. Brian Adams

Adams sends him head first into the announcers’ table to start and drops him onto the barricade for good measure. They get inside for the first time with Adams raking his boots across the eyes, followed by some choking in the corner. Luger pulls him outside and sends Adams head first into the steps before a whip sends him into “the rail of pain.” Back in and we hit the posing, followed by a backbreaker for two.

Lex stays on the bad back with a suplex and even more posing. Now we go old school with a bearhug until Adams powers out and hits a backbreaker of his own. Cue Buff Bagwell but Adams drops him with a single right hand. The full nelson slam puts Luger away clean in a bit of a surprise.

Rating: D-. It’s rarely a good sign when the best thing you can say about a match is that it had a clean ending. Adams winning with a simple full nelson slam was a surprise but at least the interference didn’t mean anything. Also it’s nice to see Luger putting people over instead of fighting Goldberg on three straight pay per views as it seems he’s FINALLY learning his place.

Bryan Clark runs in for the post match save.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. The Wall

Wall has Chavo with him. As usual the announcers act like Rey is going to die because they’ve never watched Mysterio vs. a bigger guy. Rey goes after the knee to start but springboards into a one armed gorilla press. A sleeper has a bit more success on the big man until he drives Rey back first into the corner. Wall throws him outside so Chavo can get in some cheap shots.

Rey’s knee goes into the steps and Wall chokes him while standing on the announcers’ table. A hard whip sends Rey chest first into the buckle as the announcers think the match should be stopped. Wall misses a top rope legdrop and Rey hits the springboard seated senton with Chavo making the save. That earns him a big flip dive but here’s Hugh Morrus to electric chair Wall off the top and hit No Laughing Matter to give Rey the pin.

Rating: D. So to clarify, the greatest cruiserweight of all time has to get beaten down for five minutes and then saved by Hugh Morrus to set up a match between Morrus and Wall at SuperBrawl. Naturally they had no choice but to put these feuds together and have Mysterio look like a goon whose career was saved. At least he won though and that helps a lot. It was a rough way to get there but the right guy won and that helps a lot.

Mysterio and Morrus clean house post match.

Here’s Kwee Wee for his usual “I’m all man” speech. Tony: “Is it just me or is his hair crooked?” And that’s your latest reason why Kwee Wee is going nowhere. Kwee Wee calls out a fan and it’s time for a fight.

Kwee Wee vs. ???

A few right hands give Kwee Wee a pin.

Here’s the guy Kwee Wee called out earlier tonight with a missile dropkick and we have another match.

Kwee Wee vs. Johnny Dodson

Kwee Wee beats him down with ease and ends Dodson with a piledriver in just over a minute. It would be nice for this to go somewhere but I doubt Kwee Wee is considered important enough to get such attention.

Konnan vs. Mike Sanders

For some reason I can’t picture the Mississippi crowd being that into Konnan’s odd way of speaking. Tony: “Word.” Konnan gets two off a rollup to start but Sanders rolls into a crucifix for two of his own. The mat work goes to Konnan as he grabs something like a standing figure four but sitting on the leg instead of pulling back on it.

The announcers talk about the new owners doing something about Flair as Sanders drops a knee on Konnan’s chest. A clothesline puts Konnan down for no cover because Sanders is busy yelling at the crowd. Sanders puts on a cobra clutch for a bit before Konnan comes back with the rolling lariat. The X Factor sets up the Tequila Sunrise for the clean submission.

Rating: D+. Sanders is someone who looks like he has potential but doesn’t seem like he’s going anywhere. Konnan is actually not the worst worker in the world as his normal stuff is entertaining enough though it’s hard to get into whatever nonsense he says before the match. It’s also amazing how much better he is when he’s just being himself and not pulling “pranks” with the Filthy Animals.

Don Harris says he now has a manager’s license. Normally I would ask how bad the commission that issues licenses must be but it seems that they’re avoiding Harris Brothers matches so they’re smarter than I am.

Jeff Jarrett/Rick Steiner vs. Insiders

The Insiders clean house to start and thankfully they’re not wasting the “big” match of the Insiders vs. the Steiners on a nothing show like this. Page and Jarrett get things going with Jeff taking a hard clothesline (with authority according to Tenay) before getting crotched against the post. Rick comes in and blasts Page in the face because he’s Rick Steiner and therefore gets to beat up anyone he wants.

It’s time for the heels to take turns beating on Page before Steiner slaps on a chinlock about two minutes in. That’s never a good sign which is why it’s standard Rick Steiner procedure. Jeff puts on a sleeper because he’s a master of the hold according to Tony. Don’t you have to win a match with it to be a master?

Page escapes with the belly to back (a master wouldn’t allow that) but Rick comes in with a belly to belly to prevent the hot tag. Page finally punches Jarrett down and it’s Nash coming in for a bunch of right hands and boots. The Jackknife puts Steiner away and for once that’s a bad ending as you don’t want a new champion losing when Jarrett is right there.

Rating: D+. This was fine, albeit the same boring main event you would expect on Thunder. Page is always going to be solid and Jeff can be his normally dull self but the other two are clearly just there because they’re paid to be and aren’t going to put in any effort above the minimum. The clean ending was nice for a change, though it should have been Jarrett.

Scott Steiner, Totally Buff and Kronik come out for the standoff to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. Just a bunch of bad wrestling and more of the same boring stable vs. stable feud that has been dominating the company for weeks now. It’s not the worst story or anything but it’s so repetitive at this point because WCW has done it so many times in the last few years. So many of the stories are stuck in limbo and it’s getting rough to sit through every single week. At least Rick Steiner lost though and that’s always a good thing.

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Thunder
Date: October 14, 1999
Location: Riverside Centroplex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Attendance: 4,941
Commentators: Scott Hudson, Larry Zbyszko

Unfortunately this is the second half of a taping and they’ve taken Nash off commentary to make this far less entertaining than last week’s show. It’s also the go home show for Halloween Havoc but this was taped before Russo turned the promotion upside down this past Monday. Let’s get to it.

Apparently Nash scared Tenay off this week.

Norman Smiley vs. The Maestro

We delay the start so Maestro can pose a bit before getting to some amateur stuff. Maestro is a somewhat bigger guy but still moves well. His movement isn’t quite as good as Norman’s wiggling, though unfortunately there isn’t much here about Norman’s screaming gimmick. A European uppercut staggers Maestro but he takes Smiley down by the legs.

The grappling doesn’t work so Maestro hits a side slam and cranks on a chinlock. This is the match that’s supposed to make me stick around for the rest of the show. More right hands have Smiley in some trouble but he blocks two sunset flip attempts. Back up and Smiley goes to the arm before hitting the swinging slam, setting up the dance. A brawl on the floor goes nowhere so Maestro tries and fails at an implant DDT, allowing Norman to slip on Norman’s Conquest for the win.

Rating: D. I like Norman but maybe the screaming thing was good for him. The problem is that he’s just a guy in trunks doing moves to someone and that’s really not a good way to get people to notice you. The dancing and accent are only going to get you so far, as is good amateur skill. Maestro has potential to be a low level comedy character but I’m terrified of what’s coming when Russo gets hold of him.

Lash Leroux vs. Disco Inferno video.

Horace vs. MVP

That would be Dale Torborg. Horace powers him into the corner to start and drives some shoulders into the ribs. MVP gets run over a few times so he opts for dropkicks, despite being a pretty tall guy who wouldn’t usually throw dropkicks. They head outside with MVP hammering away and whipping Horace into the barricade.

Back in and Horace knees him right back to the floor as this is already going nowhere. An elbow drop gets two for Horace and he sends Horace into the steps to keep this moving at such a high rate of speed. A suplex and backbreaker get two each for Horace but he misses a charge into the corner. MVP comes back with a suplex and punches followed by a clothesline for two. Horace shrugs it off and hits a Samoan drop for the pin.

Rating: D-. This show is basically a collection of dark matches. There’s nothing to most of these matches and there’s no reason for me to want to see the majority of them, but we’re stuck sitting through them week after week. It’s clear that this show is nothing more than a dumping ground for the people that WCW doesn’t want to put on Nitro. The fact that this is going head to head with Smackdown is yet another reason why it was clear WCW had no chance against the WWF.

Video on Page vs. Flair on Sunday.

Curly Bill vs. Lash Leroux

Hudson refers to the NWO as defunct. Sweet goodness it took long enough. Curly starts fast by just kicking him in the face, once regularly and a second time to stop a charge in the corner. They head outside with Bill sending him into the steps for a move far too common around here these days. A Stunner across the top rope and a swinging neckbreaker have Lash in trouble.

They trade chops with Lash getting the worse of it, followed by a running knee from Curly. Slam, chinlock, slam, fans sit up smoking in the supernatural darkness of cold-water flats floating across the tops of cities contemplating jazz out of their boredom from this match. Lash fights up with his usual stuff but can’t hit Whiplash. Curly comes back with a Fujiwara armbar but Lash is next to the ropes. In a bookend to the match, Curly charges into raised boots just like Lash did and Whiplash is good for the pin.

Rating: D. Virgil is getting six minutes on TV and is dominating about two thirds of the match and is up against a guy who will be getting a title shot on Sunday. Lash is nothing great in the ring but he’s good enough to survive being the challenger of the month to Disco Inferno. I’ll stay away from a rant about Disco being Cruiserweight Champion at this point because Lash has this odd likability about him and I find it hard to complain about his matches. Also was there any reason to have him not beat a cruiserweight here?

Road Report. Whoever this schmuck is has nothing on Lee Marshall.

The First Family wants a title shot at Halloween Havoc. Don’t they already have one?

Harlem Heat vs. Steve Regal/Dave Taylor

No entrance for Harlem Heat as they lost the titles on Monday in a non-built match, so I’m assuming this is non-title.. Regal and Booker trade arm work to start until a forearm staggers the Englishman. Off to Ray for another elbow, which freaks Regal out, sending him over to the corner for a tag. It seems that we’re in a comedy match.

Taylor comes in and gets hit in the face a lot but he uppercuts Booker to the floor for some European uppercuts from Finlay. Regal has settled down enough to work over Booker in the corner, only to miss a charge and get caught in a Rock Bottom. They stretch things out a bit by having Finlay pull Stevie off the apron, only to have the tag made just a few seconds later. Stevie comes in and cleans house, only to have the First Family come in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Regal tried but even his magic can’t save a match that ends with Knobbs and Morrus running in for a DQ. Hopefully Russo gets rid of these two schmucks but for some reason I don’t think even he can overcome the powers of nepotism or the urge to give someone a juvenile name.

The Heat cleans house post match.

Video on Sid.

Video on Goldberg vs. Sid.

Video on Goldberg. My goodness cancel this show already.

Video on Berlyn vs. Armstrong.

Kendall Windham vs. Brad Armstrong

Windham hammers away to start like the big goon that he is but Brad comes back with some armdrags and right hands in the corner. They trade arm work because we haven’t seen that enough lately. Curly offers a cheap shot from the floor and rakes Brad’s back to validate his paycheck. Back in and Kendall mixes it up with a chinlock, slam and second chinlock to kill off ninety seconds.

Brad fights up with a variety of shots to the face, followed by a powerslam for two. Curly offers a distraction so Kendall can hit Brad low. That doesn’t seem to do much so Kendall shoves Brad into the referee. For the love of all things good and holy this match needed a ref bump??? A boot shot goes bad and Brad’s Russian legsweep is good for the pin.

Rating: F. Good grief just let them wrestler. Or actually wait don’t let them wrestler as I can’t handle two Redneck matches in one night. This is another bad match on a bad show which is a lame duck episode anyway and the last dying breath of the old regime before Russo and pal come in to destroy the house. That being said, END THIS SHOW ALREADY.

Halloween Havoc card.

Juventud Guerrera/Silver King vs. Blitzkrieg/Kaz Hayashi

When you need a filler, call Silver King. Juvy and Blitzkrieg start things off with some posing before Blitzkrieg nails some kicks to send Juvy over for a tag. For some reason the teams switch corners on the apron. Somehow that’s the least illogical thing on this show so far. King misses a running dropkick in the corner and gets cradled for two.

Silver gets right back into things by launching Blitzkrieg into the air for a crash before stopping to do a dance. He’s no Norman Smiley. Juvy and Kaz come in with Guerrera mocking a bow to Hayashi before kicking him down. They trade strikes until Juvy DDTs him down and hammers away in the corner. There’s the crotch chop and it’s back to Silver King who gets caught in a spinebuster from Blitzkrieg. This is an incredibly fast paced match so far.

Kaz dropkicks his partner by mistake and Silver King adds an enziguri but still can’t make the hot tag. An airplane spin into a faceplant finally allows the hot tag to Juvy, who comes in with a springboard double crossbody as everything breaks down. Blitzkrieg avoids a dive and hooks a chinlock for a well earned breather.

We take a break and come back with Juvy in a Hart Attack with Kaz playing Bret and nailing a missile dropkick. The tribute to 80s tag teams continues with Blitzkrieg playing Ax to Kaz’s Smash, if Ax could hit a springboard legdrop that is. A standing corkscrew splash gets two on Guerrera but he comes back with a running kick to the face. Silver King kicks Blitzkrieg in the back but it’s still not enough for the hot tag.

After some double teaming has him in trouble, Juvy bulldogs both heels (I think?) down and makes the hot tag. It’s off to Silver King with a double missile dropkick but Blitzkrieg sunset flips him for two. Juvy springboards in again to cross body Blitzkrieg down and the referee just counts the cover anyway. Hayashi moonsaults down onto Juvy as Silver King electric chairs Blitzkrieg for good measure. King adds a double jump moonsault but Kaz makes a diving save. Kaz dropkicks Silver King and Blitzkrieg to the floor, only to walk into the Juvy Driver for the pin.

Rating: B. This match was WAY too good for this show. It’s nothing they haven’t done before a million times but my goodness they were moving around in there. It helps that it’s on one of the worst shows I’ve seen in years so the expectations were really low coming in. Fun stuff here though and the only thing worth seeing on the show.

Rick Steiner vs. La Parka

Steiner babbles to start before taking La Parka’s head off with a Steinerline. La Parka gets in a single hiptoss before Steiner suplexes him down and whips him into the barricade. Rick’s reward for “wrestling” this way? A TV Title shot this Sunday. A release German suplex gets two back inside, followed by another belly to belly and the Steiner Bulldog for the pin. I’m so glad they had La Parka win on Monday so this could happen on Thursday.

Clips of Benoit winning the TV Title for some reason.

Hogan vs. Sting video.

Highlight video from Nitro. This was like three minutes long but the show still didn’t make sense.

Video on Luger vs. Hart.

Total Package vs. Buff Bagwell

No entrance for Buff, but to be fair he lost to La Parka on Monday. Hudson talks up that loss though, meaning the commentary was recorded later, likely due to the threat of Nash. In another casualty of the taped schedule, Bagwell is his normal self here instead of being uninterested like he was on Nitro. Luger hammers on his back to start but gets dropkicked out to the floor as things settle down. The announcers try to play it up as Bagwell getting a wakeup call on Monday, even though I’d assume he’s back to not caring on Monday.

Luger tries to get back in but gets sent right back to the floor for another beating from Bagwell. Elizabeth offers a distraction so Luger can nail Buff in the back of the head before sending him into the steps for good measure. Now it’s into the barricade before Luger slowly stomps away. Back in and Luger stomps in the corner, where you can see some of the mat coming up. Bagwell comes back by ramming him into the buckle pad over and over, only to get run over by a clothesline. Viva el chinlock for a bit before Buff makes his clothesline based comeback. Liz crotches him on top though and the Rack ends this.

Rating: D. So Bagwell’s rebound from the loss on Monday is to lose in a glorified squash here as the continuity gets all screwed up. Luger looked better here than he has in a long time, but to be fair that really isn’t saying much. I saw these two wrestle enough in 1997/1998 that I never thought I’d want to see them again, and it turns out I’m right. Oh and no mention whatsoever of Liz being guitared on Monday. Because, you know, it hadn’t happened yet.

Overall Rating: F+. I wonder if I can get watching this show covered under my insurance plan. It has to be worthy of some hospitalization. I wanted to give it the lowest passing grade possible due to that tag match but my goodness this was horrible. It’s literally the last TV show (aside from Saturday Night which meant jack by this point) from this booking era and it shows horribly. As bad as Thunder has been over the years, this is one of the worst episodes they’ve ever put on and that’s saying quite a bit.

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Thunder
Date: September 2, 1999
Location: Wendler Arena, Saginaw, Michigan
Attendance: 4,653
Commentators: Larry Zbyszko, Mike Tenay

We’re getting closer to Fall Brawl and the card is starting to take some shape. The big story coming out of Monday is Luger accusing Hogan of driving the Hummer back in the summer, even though I don’t think anyone was still wondering about that. Sting believes Luger, meaning he isn’t sure if he can trust Hogan, who was totally his best friend who has never done anything bad to him ever. Let’s get to it.

We recap Hogan/Sting/Luger from Nitro and Hogan standing next to the white Hummer. Wasn’t it black at one point?

Opening sequence.

In case you want to check the color, we see the original Hummer attack on Nash. It’s white there.

Clip from the end of Nitro where Sting found Savage and Gorgeous George in Hogan’s locker room.

Here’s Diamond Dallas Page to promise he’s going to take care of Goldberg at Fall Brawl. He was going to do it tonight but then he realized he’s in Saginaw and the fans here don’t deserve it. Instead, he has a replacement for tonight.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Al Greene

Page makes more Mama jokes and gets jumped from behind to start. That’s fine with Page who hits a quick belly to back suplex and neckbreaker to take over. We get a nice variety of choking, stomping and choking as you can feel the televisions changing over to Smackdown in droves. Greene’s lone offense is a jawbreaker, followed by Page ducking a clothesline and Diamond Cutting Al for the pin.

Revolution vs. First Family in a No DQ match for Fall Braw.

Shane Douglas vs. Dave Taylor

The Englishman sends him into the corner to start but charges into a boot, setting up a gordbuster from Shane. After a quick break on the floor, Taylor comes back with some European uppercuts before going after the legs with a very British style offense. Back up and Taylor goes for a middle rope forearm but Shane rolls away, sending Taylor into Regal by mistake. The Pittsburgh Plunge gives Shane the easy pin in a quick match.

Chris Adams comes out with the Union Jack but Benoit makes the save. The First Family and Revolution come in for a big brawl with the Revolution getting the better of it and earning the right to talk some trash.

Berlyn is here. As in WCW, not this show.

Kaz Hayashi vs. El Dandy

In something you don’t often see to start, Kaz charges into a boot in the corner. Dandy doesn’t follow up for some reason and gets armdragged down a few times, followed by a dropkick to send him outside. Kaz speeds things up with a big corkscrew dive but can’t follow up. Back inside and Hayashi charges into another boot to the face (it’s a really bad sign when they’re repeating spots ninety seconds into the match), allowing Dandy to backflip over Kaz without making any contact.

That may not be the smartest move in the world but who am I to doubt El Dandy? Yes that joke has been done to death but what else is there to talk about with Dandy? A couple of slams put Kaz down but Dandy misses a middle rope splash. Back up and Dandy misses a charge but Kaz charges into the third boot to the face of the match. And this guy is supposed to be the next challenger for the Cruiserweight Title? Dandy hits a quick hurricanrana but his superplex is broken up, allowing Kaz to hit a senton backsplash for the pin.

Rating: D. This match ran just over three minutes and they managed to do the same spot three times. I know neither guy is on the high end of the Cruiserweight division, but they really can’t come up with anything better than this? Dandy really wasn’t the best guy in the world to face Hayashi and he kind of jammed up Kaz’s push.

Sid comes in post match for a chokeslam, powerbomb and win #76. Wasn’t he in the eighties just a few weeks ago? With the lights coming down, Sid says Benoit is the only member of the Revolution that stands out and he’d love to beat him for the US Title.

Berlyn is still around. Still not here, but around.

Cruiserweight Title: Lenny Lane vs. Kidman

Hayashi, also known as victim #76, is getting the winner at Fall Brawl. Feeling out process to start with Kidman sending him into the ropes, only to eat a shoulder block. After some championship quality skipping, another shoulder (please not three times in one match again) puts Kidman down. Lane trips over him while running the ropes though and Kidman comes back with right hands.

A headscissors sends the champ down and a dropkick puts him on the floor, allowing Kidman to hit a big dive onto the brothers. Back in and Lenny flips out of a Fameasser attempt before sending him outside for a beating from Lodi. Kidman gets planted with a reverse powerbomb (I’ve always thought that would be a good finisher) and we take a break. Back with Kidman missing a charge, setting up a sexually suggestive waistlock. A gutwrench powerbomb gets….HE JUST POWEBOMBED KIDMAN!!!!! I mean, of all the people that tried, LENNY LANE gets to powerbomb Kidman???

As my mind is trying to comprehend this, Kidman comes back with a powerbomb of his own for tow. The Bodog gets two more but Lane misses a cross body and hits the referee. Cue Lodi for a DDT but it has about all the effect you would expect from a Lodi move. Kidman reverses yet another powerbomb and loads up the Shooting Star, only to have Lodi come in again for the DQ.

Rating: C+. This was getting good and that powerbomb thing was actually a cool moment. I’m sure that’s why the announcers didn’t notice it and just kept going with the match instead of mentioning how rare it was. Lane is decent enough in the ring but I have little desire to see him defending the title against people like Hayashi. It’s just quite the drop in talent, but the match could be a pleasant surprise.

Mysterio comes out for the save. That would be another team that would be better than the Windhams.

Here’s the Revolution for a chat. Benoit talks about Sid saying people need to stand out, so Benoit is ready to step up. Sid is going to have to beat him to death to take the US Title at Fall Brawl and that means more than a powerbomb. Saturn challenges Sid for tonight.

This Week In WCW Motorsports.

Coach Buzz Stern gives his four candidates a pep talk and picks Luther Biggs to be part of his Winners’ Club. Biggs looks like a stoner and falls on his face on the way to Stern’s side.

Harlem Heat vs. Disorderly Conduct

We get the intros this week because Harlem Heat doesn’t have the belts coming in after losing them on a live show. Booker wristlocks Mike to start but they’re quickly into the ropes. Instead it’s off to a hammerlock followed by the yet to be named Book End and the Ax Kick for two.

Off to Stevie for a delayed double suplex, but Mike rakes the eyes to get over for a tag. It seems that WCW has given up on the idea of actually fighting Smackdown and is content to just let them have Thursday nights. Another eye rake staggers Ray but a double clothesline doesn’t even put him down. His double clothesline puts the alliterative pair down though and it’s the hot tag to Booker T to clean house. The Big Apple Blast (Hart Attack with a Harlem Side Kick instead of a clothesline) is enough to pin Tom.

Rating: D. Total squash here which took me back to 1995. Harlem Heat was a good team but they didn’t need to be going after the belts again here. I like having Disorderly Conduct around as a jobber team though as they seem like the kind of team that could possibly score an upset someday but never had any real chance.

The Windhams run in and are quickly dispatched. After a break, the Windhams vs. Harlem Heat for the titles again at Fall Brawl is announced.

Scotty Riggs vs. Prince Iaukea

Riggs jumps Iaukea at the bell as Tenay talks about a golf tournament. Iaukea comes back with a quick enziguri and we’re in a chinlock less than a minute into the match. Oh yeah this is going to be quick. Back up and Riggs hits his dropkick before choking in the corner. Another dropkick and clothesline get two on the Prince before they head outside for even more dull stuff. Just because you go to the floor it doesn’t make your match interesting. Back in and Iaukea misses a high cross body, setting up a Fameasser to give Riggs the fast pin. Thankfully it’s too short to rate, meaning I didn’t have to be bored for very long.

CALL THE HOTLINE!

Ad for Cat-Bo, a parody of Tae-Bo. This was kind of funny so points for that.

Here’s the Cat to challenge….Hogan. That goes nowhere so he promises he can whip Goldberg.

The Cat vs. Goldberg

Miller gets in a superkick with the red shoes. He then gets speared and Jackhammered for the pin in about thirty seconds. Goldberg has his original theme back too and it really does work better than Crush Em.

Goldberg vs. Page video.

Hogan vs. Sting video.

Sid Vicious vs. Perry Saturn

Sid mocks Saturn to start but he might just be asking if Saturn wants to get some cheesecake after the show. Saturn ducks a right hand and low bridges Sid to the floor but the big man casually punches and chokes him down. Back up and Saturn scores with three straight superkicks and a clothesline to send Sid outside. I’m shocked he’s getting in this much offense. That offense ends though as Sid catches his plancha and drops Saturn across the barricade to take over for the first time.

Back in and Saturn nails a quick dropkick but the sunset flip is countered into a chokeslam for….no cover. No word on if that counts as a win or not but in WCW world it probably gives Sid another three victories. That’s actually not the worst story in the world but when it’s at the expense of half the roster, the value takes quite a hit. We hit the chinlock for a bit until Saturn fights up, only to have his cross body countered into a World’s Strongest Slam for two. Saturn makes another comeback and hammers away in the corner, drawing in Steiner for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Saturn’s offense looked good and I’m actually shocked they didn’t have Saturn do the clean job here. It’s almost like they’re protecting the young guys instead of just jobbing them every chance they can get. I’m sure that’s coming later, but it’s nice to get a breather from the same stuff over and over again.

Speaking of getting a break, Sid loads up the powerbomb but Malenko comes in for the save with the TV Title belt. The rest of the Revolution runs out and cleans house. Notice how WCW makes sure that it takes four young guys to get rid of two big stars, which means young guys are ganging up on the old ones and even used a weapon to take them out. This story is pretty backwards when you think about it. A standoff ends the show.

Overall Rating: D. Well the booking was less frustrating tonight, but my goodness could they make it any more clear that they’ve just given up on the Thursday night battle in just a week? Sid vs. Saturn in a five minute match is the best they can give us for the main event? The matches were mostly short though and that makes things a bit easier to get through, but it’s still low level stuff and some of the most boring wrestling I’ve seen in a long time.

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Bound For Glory 2014
Date: October 12, 2014
Location: Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Taz

Official subtitle: TNA sends its B team to Japan for a tape delayed Wrestle-1 show with matches first mentioned on TV four days ago that has nothing to do with current storylines that they have the nerve to ask you to pay $50 for while shouting about how this is all about giving the fans the best. FEEL THE ELECTRICITY! Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks about how this is a night unlike any other and how the biggest stars of both promotions are going at it. We also get a video on the Muta vs. Sanada feud.

The arena isn’t very big and only holds about 2,000 people.

JB welcomes us to the show and we’re ready to go.

Manik vs. Minoru Tanaka

It’s back in a four sided ring. Feeling out process to start until Tanaka scores with a nice dropkick. Manik comes right back by sending him out to the floor but misses a plancha. He goes under the ring though and sneaks up on Tanaka for a neckbreaker. A dropkick gets two for Manik and he cranks on the arm while holding a chinlock.

Tanaka gets suplexed down for two as Tenay talks about Manik being the youngest non-Japanese wrestler to ever perform in New Japan. There’s something close to a story here as Tanaka used to mentor Manik at the start of his career. Not that there’s any hostility or anything but they did know each other before this. A missile dropkick and knee drop get two for Tanaka but Manik dropkicks him back to the floor. Tanaka blocks another dive with a kick to the face and hits a middle rope moonsault to send Manik into the barricade.

Back in and Manik avoids a charge and hits another missile dropkick before throwing him into the air for a kick to the face. Tanaka gets his knees up to block a frog splash before yet another running dropkick sends Manik into the corner. A superplex into a hiptoss gets two on Manik as the fans are finally getting into this. They trade some nice rollups until Manik plants him with a brainbuster for another near fall. Manik gets the same off a gutbuster but walks into a kick to the head followed by a cross armbreaker for the submission at 9:57.

Rating: B-. This was actually a solid back and forth match but it sums up the problem with this entire show: I have no reason to care about these guys and the entire show is going to be based on the action. Something tells me the rest of the card isn’t going to be this solid, and this match wasn’t even all that great. Still though, good opener.

We’ll be looking at great moments in Team 3D’s history, starting with Slammiversary 2006 against Rick Steiner and Animal. They couldn’t even get one of the 3D vs. Steiners matches? We see the last three minutes or so.

Ethan Carter III talks about stabbing Spud in the heart with his words on Wednesday. Spud knew he was on borrowed time when he allowed Dixie to be sent through a table. Ethan has a replacement for Spud though and he’ll debut on Wednesday. He’s ready to start EC3 Year 2 with a win over a former sumo wrestler tonight.

We recap Ethan’s rookie year in TNA where he still hasn’t submitted or been pinned.

Ethan Carter III vs. Ryota Hama

Before the match Ethan is pleased with the respect the fans show him here. He speaks “Japanese”, meaning very slow English, talking about how he’s rich, undefeated and good. Carter talks about beating every TNA Hall of Famer at their own game so he’s going to slam Hama tonight. He says slam ham over and over again and declares himself huge in Japan.

Hama is disturbingly fat and dresses exactly like Rikishi. He powers Carter into the corner with ease of course so Carter bails to the floor. Tenay tries to give us a brief history of Japanese wrestling as Carter gets dropped with a shoulder block. Back in and Hama runs him over out of a sumo position but misses a big fat splash. Carter of course can’t slam him and a big elbow drop gets two. A running Umaga attack in the corner gets the same but Hama misses a seated senton. Carter still can’t slam him and Hama falls on top for two. We get the required Stink Face but Carter comes back with a 1%er for the pin at 6:00.

Rating: D. Remember when I said it wasn’t going to stay as good as the opener? I was correct earlier than I thought with this standard comedy match. Go back and watch any given Rikishi match and you’ve seen the same match you got here. Nothing to see here but at least Carter won.

Team 3D vs. Beer Money from Lockdown 2009.

MVP talks about how awesome the Japanese wrestlers are and how they put fear in the hearts of sports entertainers. He doesn’t know much about Sakamoto but the little bit he’s seen hasn’t impressed him. Tonight though, Sakamoto will be impressed.

MVP vs. Kazma Sakamoto

Remember Tensai’s worshipper? Well he returns here as a, ahem, star. MVP is the huge face here due to his time in New Japan. He takes Sakamoto down as Tenay recaps Sakamoto’s time in WWE. Sakamoto runs from MVP as we really haven’t had a ton of contact yet. MVP gets in a shot to knock Sakamoto out to the floor as Tenay’s history lessons continue.

Back in and MVP drops some knees on the face for two but Sakamoto comes back with uppercuts. A few kicks to the legs have MVP in trouble and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Sakamoto misses the Ballin Elbow and gets clotheslined in the corner. MVP nips up and hits the real Ballin Elbow followed by a fisherman’s suplex for two. Sakamoto misses a running knee and gets his leg kicked out, setting up a Shining Wizard for the pin at 8:02.

Rating: C-. Nothing special here as it was just a step above a squash for MVP. Sakamoto never posed a threat here and MVP was over like free beer in a frat house. This was another short match that didn’t mean anything and was there for the live crowd instead of the PPV crowd, but that’s the case for the entire card.

Samoa Joe talks about how awesome the X-Division is and how tough a night his opponents are in.

X-Division Title: Samoa Joe vs. Kaz Hayashi vs. Low Ki

Joe is defending. Hayashi is probably best known in America as a low level cruiserweight guy about fourteen years ago. Ki takes over to start but Joe crushes both guys in the corner and kicks Kaz in the head. There’s the chop to Hayashi’s back but he fires off right hands to the champ’s face and knocks Joe to the floor. The fans are behind Low Ki as he kicks both guys down and gets two on Joe. Both challengers head to the floor and get taken out by a big dive as we see the crowd sitting still yet chanting at the same time.

Back in and Low Ki chops at Joe but the champ busts out his powerbomb into the crab into the STF until Hayashi remembers he’s in this match and puts Joe in a Crossface without breaking the hold on Ki. Hayashi hits a kind of Zig Zag for two on Joe with Ki making the save. A quick Warrior’s Way gets two on Kaz and they head outside so Joe can nail a double dive. Back in and Kaz charges into a Rock Bottom out of the corner but Low Ki breaks up the MuscleBuster. That earns him a Koquina Clutch and Ki passes out to retain Joe’s title at 10:30.

Rating: C+. Not bad for the most part here but it didn’t mean anything for the most part. This was the same three way style match TNA has done a dozen times with Hayashi just being a warm body to fill out the match. The fact that the winner was already spoiled with the TV tapings didn’t help either.

Joe thanks the fans in Japanese and says they’re here to bring the world together for the fans. He is Samoa Joe and he is professional wrestling.

Another great Team 3D moment: putting Dixie through a table.

Dreamer says he’s going to do the hardcore thing one more time with Team 3D. He looks like he’s about to cry because that’s all Tommy Dreamer does anymore.

Jiro Kuroshio/Yusuke Kodama vs. Andy Wu/El Hijo del Pantera

Wrestle-1 match and I have no idea who any of these guys are. Wu, a guy that moves a lot, starts with Kuroshio and Andy ducks a kick to the face. Kuroshio wrestles in a jacket for some reason. Off to Kodama and Pantera for a gymnastics demonstration capped off by a hurricanrana from Pantera. An armdrag puts Kodama on the floor for a big flip dive from Pantera. Back in and Kuroshio slams Pantera down and adjusts his hair during the cover.

Kuroshio gets two more off a standing corkscrew moonsault but stops to check his hair. Back to Kodama for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two on Pantera as this just keeps going. Pantera finally crawls over for the hot tag and Wu speeds things up a bit with flips. Kodama gets double teamed into a 619 for two from Pantera. Wu dives over the top onto Kuroshio and Kodama kicks Patnera in the face for two. Kuroshio hits a big flip dive to take out Wu and Kodama nails a corkscrew moonsault for the pin on Pantera at 9:20.

Rating: C+. Well that happened. I still have almost no idea who any of these people are and I have almost no reason to care about any of them but, Kuroshio does indeed wrestle in a jacket. It was your regular cruiserweight style tag match and odds are I won’t remember it in about fifteen minutes.

Video on Team 3D’s career and how much they deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

We see Tommy Dreamer’s induction speech and, say it with me, he cries. Team 3D doesn’t have a ton to say here other than how hard they’ve worked to get here and how glad they are to be here. You would think they could at least throw on a suit though.

Team 3D vs. Tommy Dreamer/Abyss

No stipulations here for a change. I’m sure the rules will be enforced too. Dreamer has a headband on to pay homage to Terry Funk. Long intros fill even more time and the fans want tables. Ray speaks some Japanese and we get handshakes from everyone but Abyss. Dreamer and D-Von do some basic stuff to start before it’s off to Abyss and Ray. Tenay gets on my nerves even more by talking about the Full Metal Mayhem match from Impact. They slug it out very slowly until Ray nails a Rock Bottom.

Abyss pops up with a chokeslam but Ray pops up. Ray avoids a splash and D-Von comes in to clothesline Abyss out to the floor. The reverse 3D plants Dreamer as they’re still in about second gear. Dreamer takes What’s Up and it’s table time. The tables are much smaller here and we get the required ECW chant. The fight heads outside and Abyss rings the bell on Ray’s head. They fight around the arena and now it’s time for all of the weapons.

We get duels with chairs and kendo sticks but Dreamer DDTs Ray as Abyss chokeslams D-Von. Dreamer is thrown into a trashcan in the corner and the Black Hole Slam gets two on Ray. Abyss nails him in the ribs with a few chair shots but D-Von hits his spinebuster for two on Abyss. D-Von goes up to drive Abyss through a table, only to have Ray powerbomb Dreamer through it instead. Abyss busts out the tacks and walks into 3D onto said tacks for no cover. Dreamer brings in the cane and takes a 3D of his own for the pin at about 13:00.

Rating: D+. This show is getting old in a hurry. This was the same hardcore brawl we’ve seen a dozen times before with nothing new and no doubt as to who was going to win. Tenay mentioning the great Full Metal Mayhem match makes me want to just go find a copy of that match instead, which is a really bad sign for your biggest show of the year.

Post match Team 3D says they love Japan

Velvet says this is her first time in Japan (it isn’t even her first time this year) and says she isn’t afraid of Havok.

We recap Havok winning the Knockouts Title.

Knockouts Title: Havok vs. Velvet Sky

Velvet is challenging and is suddenly a face over here. Havok is from Defiance, Ohio. Velvet fires off kicks to start and hits a few middle rope ax handles. The champ comes back with shoulders in the corner and a backbreaker. Off to a bearhug followed by a slam but Velvet fights back with almost no effect. A headscissors puts Havok down and a middle rope cross body gets two. Not that it matters as Havok grabs another bearhug for the submission at 6:00.

Rating: C-. This actually wasn’t half bad with Velvet fighting instead of getting squashed. It still wasn’t any good but Havok is a good choice for a monster champion. Whoever eventually beats her is going to look like a big deal and that’s the whole point of building up a monster as champion.

James Storm is sitting in what looks like a temple, talking about cutting down Great Muta for the sake of the Revolution.

We recap Muta/Tajiri vs. Sanada/Storm. Muta mentored Sanada but Storm turned Sanada to the dark side. Tonight it’s about revenge. This is the only match that has gotten any sort of a build.

Great Sanada/James Storm vs. Tajiri/Great Muta

Storm gives a great speech about turning one of Japan’s own against them. That little bit of storyline actually felt really refreshing. Muta sprays mist to start and gets things going with Sanada. They fight over a leglock on the mat until Muta comes up and works on the arm. It’s back down to the mat and Sanada sprays Mist at Muta but only hits air. Off to Tajiri vs. Storm with James taking a bunch of kicks. Tajiri grabs the beard but it’s quickly back to Sanada, only to have him get low bridged out to the floor.

Sanada kicks Tajiri to the floor and then under the ring as things slow WAY down. Tajiri has taken mist off camera and is blinded back inside. Storm and Sanada start slowly double teaming as we’re waiting on the hot tag to Muta. A dropkick gets two for Sanada and we hit the nerve hold.

Back up and Sanada pulls out a white stick of some kind of nail Tajiri again. Tajiri comes right back with a kick and tags in Muta to clean house. Muta hammers on Sanada and drops an elbow for two, only to get caught in Closing Time. Storm drops a top rope elbow and Sanada’s moonsault gets two. Everything breaks down and Storm is backdropped to the floor. Tajiri superkicks Sanada down and it’s a double mist and the Shining Wizard to give Muta the pin at 10:50.

Rating: D+. I just sat through this whole show for an eleven minute main event. Storm not taking the pin is a good thing, but it’s not like this match means anything at the end of the day. However, there’s one thing that stands out above all this: at the end of the day, the two oldest guys on the show stood tall to end the show. Some things never change.

Storm chokes Muta with the bullrope so Team 3D makes the save to end the show. That would be four guys at least 41 years old ending the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Here’s the thing: the show itself was just ok. Some of the matches weren’t bad but for the most part it was just the same kind of matches we’ve seen in other forms dozens of times. It wasn’t a bad show or anything but it’s totally forgettable with nothing standing out as a great or even very good match. The opener is the best match and the X-Division Title match is good depending on your taste but I’ve seen it done too many times.

That brings us to the big problem: this is Bound For Glory, not some One Night Only show. The Global Impact Japan show was better than this with more title matches, two title changes and cost $15 compared to $50 for this one. The stalling was just pathetic and made me feel like I was watching a low rent show from a low rent promotion.

TNA rolled the dice here and I can get the idea behind it, but not for Bound For Glory or when TNA is in the spot they’re in. They don’t have another live event for three months and the only thing you hear about TV is “it’s coming”. This show might have helped set up stuff in Asia, but if there’s no product in America, there’s nothing to ship out to Asia. The problem is this show was all for the Japanese fans, and the last thing TNA should be doing right now is flipping off their loyal fans, which are the only things keeping them going. This was a bad idea but the intentions were good at least.

Results

Minoru Tanaka b. Manik – Cross armbreaker

Ethan Carter III b. Ryoto Hama – 1%er

MVP b. Kazma Sakamoto – Shining Wizard

Samoa Joe b. Low Ki and Kaz Hayashi – Koquina Clutch to Ki

Jiro Kuroshio/Yusuke Kodama b. El Hijo del Pantera/Andy Wu – Corkscrew moonsault to Pantera

Team 3D b. Abyss/Tommy Dreamer – 3D to Dreamer

Havok b. Velvet Sky – Bearhug

Great Muta/Tajiri b. Great Sanada/James Storm

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1997 WCW Monday Nitro Reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Thunder
Date: February 11, 1999
Location: Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Attendance: 10,319
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

The slow build towards SuperBrawl continues with another taped Thunder. Things are starting to get messy as well with a lot of the stories losing some of the sense they’ve been making. Odds are tonight will focus on the tag team tournament which should see some teams being eliminated soon. Let’s get to it.

We open with the Blonde in the pool hall video from Nitro.

The announcers welcome us to the show and do their usual.

Tag Team Title Tournament: Mike Enos/Bobby Duncum Jr. vs. Faces of Fear

The losers are eliminated. Meng and Enos get things going and they actually do some technical stuff at first. Mike takes him into the corner but offers a clean break so they can stare at each other. Meng does the same and this has the makings of a long match. They trade shots to the ribs until Meng nails him with a clothesline. Enos takes him down with an armdrag and it’s off to Duncum who gets wristlocked. Barbarian comes in as this match isn’t exactly thrilling the fans. Bobby hits a bad dropkick to send Barbarian to the floor.

We take a break and come back with Meng getting choked in the corner to keep Enos in control. A piledriver has almost no effect on Meng and it’s off to Barbarian who gets powerslammed for two. Meng comes back in with a piledriver of his own for two on Bobby. A double diving headbutt gets the same before Barbarian drops an elbow on Duncum’s back. We hit the chinlock before Meng comes in to choke.

The match just keeps going as Meng bites Bobby’s nose. Barbarian’s side slam gets two and Meng, I’m assuming out of boredom, dances before kicking Duncum in the head. A powerslam gets another near fall on Bobby….and Barbarian turns on Meng with some kicks to the head to give Duncum the pin.

Rating: D-. This tournament is officially the work of the devil. There is no other possible explanation for making me watch these teams fight three times in a month, including this which went nearly fifteen minutes. I have no idea who thinks Mike Enos and Bobby Duncum Jr. should be given this much TV time but they should be dragged out into the street and shot.

A happy Jimmy Hart leaves with Barbarian.

We see Kanyon going to Raven’s house from Monday. Why do I have a feeling we’re going to see every single clip from this story?

Video on Goldberg vs. Bigelow.

Clip from Nitro of Scott Steiner throwing Kimberly out of the car.

Video on the hair vs. mask match.

Raven and Kanyon get money out of the bank.

Super Calo vs. Lash Leroux

Calo quickly takes him down but Lash comes back with a clothesline. A backdrop puts Leroux on the floor and a dropkick puts him down. Calo hits a flip dive that the camera misses and gets two back inside. Lash nails a springboard cross body and drops Calo with a clothesline. They slug it out until Calo puts on a modified abdominal stretch. That goes nowhere either so Leroux suplexes him for two. An atomic drop gets the same for Super and he sends Lash into the buckle a few times. Calo gets two off a missile dropkick but gets caught in a fireman’s carry into a Michinoku Driver for the pin.

Rating: D. Oh my goodness this show is horrible. This was a dull match as neither guy is really very good in the ring and no one cares about either of them. Lash’s finisher looked good and the match wasn’t even six minutes long so it wasn’t so much torture as much as it was really uninteresting.

The Blonde is in the limo. Again, it’s the exact same clip from Nitro. Again, why am I complaining about having to look at her?

Video on the tournament, also from Nitro.

Glacier comes up to Sonny Onoo and the Cat. He has an offer for Sonny: he’ll sell Miller his entrance.

Tag Team Title Tournament: Dave Taylor/Fit Finlay vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./Kidman

This has to be more interesting than the first one. I mean, it HAS TO BE. Kidman and Chavo come in with one loss and face elimination if they lose again. Chavo and Finlay get things going until they finally lock up after a minute of circling. Finlay hammers away with uppercuts before putting on a cravate. Chavo comes back with a clothesline and tags in Kidman for a double back elbow.

We take a break and come back with Chavo dropkicking Finlay down and making a tag to Kidman. A high cross body gets two on Finlay but he drops Kidman throat first across the top rope to take over again. The rolling fireman’s carry gets two as the announcers talk about Piper winning the US Title on Monday. Back up and Kidman misses a charge over the top and is holding his ankle. Finlay’s chop hits the post but it really doesn’t change anything.

They head inside again with Finlay putting on an STF. Finlay lets go and poses so Kidman can crawl to the corner but Chavo is chasing Taylor on the floor. Taylor comes in and cranks on the arm instead of going after the leg injury. Finlay misses a charge into the post and Chavo comes in without a tag. The referee throws him out, allowing Taylor to crotch Kidman on the top. Finlay brings in a chair but Chavo dropkicks him in the back, sending the chair into Kidman’s head. A tombstone from Finlay is enough for the pin and the elimination.

Rating: D+. Why does WCW think eliminating all the teams that might be interesting is a good idea? Most of these teams have been thrown together and we’re getting more of a team like Mike Enos and Bobby Duncum Jr. instead of what could be a good cruiserweight team? This tournament has been a disaster so far and only seems to be getting worse.

Glacier tries to sell Miller and Onoo his armor but they’re not interested. Kaz Hayashi pops up and buys it (in subtitles) for $25,000.

The Blonde goes into her hotel room.

This Week in WCW Motorsports.

Raven and Kanyon buy clothes.

Disco Inferno vs. Chris Adams

Disco gets in a chop then hides in the corner. Some armdrags put Disco down in the corner but he bails to the floor to avoid the superkick. Disco gets posted but manages to whip Adams into the barricade. Back in and the dancing elbow drop gets two and it’s off to the chinlock. Apparently the directors are as bored as I am because we cut to the back where Hayashi is putting on the rest of his armor. Miller buys the helmet and blue eye for himself and gets a complimentary bottle of saline. For some reason I remember this from when it fired aired.

Back to the match with Adams getting two off a sunset flip. Disco gets caught in a backslide for two as Tony sounds bored out of his mind. Adams fights back with a belly to back suplex and they head to the floor. That goes nowhere so Adams comes back in with a powerbomb but has to stop the superkick because the referee is in the way. The Chartbuster ends this.

Rating: D. The match wasn’t even that bad. The problem here is there’s no reason to want to watch Disco Inferno beating up a jobber for eight minutes. Even the director seemed to get bored and go to something else. It’s so clear that there’s nothing important happening on these shows but WCW had to air them anyway. Nitro getting cut back to two hours might help things, if I can survive getting there.

The Blonde goes into her hotel room with whoever is holding the camera.

Kidman says it was just miscommunication with Chavo. A frustrated Chavo comes up and rants before laying Kidman out with a clothesline.

Another video on Goldberg vs. Bigelow.

We see Raven and Kanyon get back home where Raven’s mom says WCW called and wants him back at work.

Here’s most of Piper vs. Hart from Nitro to fill in time.

We see Hogan telling all of the Black and White members other than Norton to be the leader, again from Nitro.

Tag Team Title Tournament: Kaz Hayashi/Van Hammer vs. Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko

Hayashi has the armor on. It doesn’t seem to mean anything but he does have it on. I don’t think Hammer and Kaz have competed yet, unless Kaz is replacing Wrath who was to be Hammer’s partner before the NWO attacked them a few weeks back. Hammer takes Benoit into the corner to start before they head to the mat for a surprisingly nice technical sequence. A dragon screw leg whip takes Hammer down and it’s off to Benoit vs. Hayashi.

Dean takes him down into something resembling an STF but Kaz makes the ropes. An armdrag brings Kaz off the top as the announcers talk about screwdrivers. We take a break and come back with Benoit getting the tag to face Hammer. Chavo vs. Kidman is announced for SuperBrawl. Kaz armdrags out of a powerbomb but Benoit avoids a dropkick. Hammer comes back in and works on the leg as the match slows down a lot.

An enziguri drops Van Hammer and it’s back to Dean with the leg lariat for two. Kaz gets in a knee to the back to slow Malenko down and Hammer throws him to the floor. A baseball slide drops Dean as the announcers have pretty much given up on paying attention to the match. Back in and Dean rolls over to tag Benoit who sends Hammer outside as well.

Another baseball slide has Hammer in trouble and a short powerbomb from Malenko gets two on Kaz. The Horsemen elbow Hayashi down and Benoit’s backbreaker gets two. Malenko superplexes Kaz down for no cover and everything breaks down. A nice powerbomb/clothesline combination crushes Kaz and the Crossface gets the submission.

Rating: D+. Again, the match wasn’t bad but it needed to be shorter. That’s the problem with running matches that are longer: they only work if the match is good in the first place. Benoit and Malenko are good, but when you put them against a team like Kaz Hayashi and Van Hammer, it feels like an extended waiting period before one of them gets a submission. You need some suspension of disbelief and these aren’t the opponents to provide that.

Overall Rating: D-. This is a hard one to give such a low grade to as the wrestling really wasn’t horrible for the most part. However, it was just so uninteresting and dull that I stopped caring about half an hour in. The tournament is thankfully wrapping up so we could get some interesting matches, but this stuff was a chore to survive.

The other interesting thing about this show was all the stuff they aired from Nitro, including most of a whole match. There were only five new matches on this show and they had to air that much filler. It’s clear that Thunder really doesn’t need to exist every week, but that’s the danger of going five hours every week when the company is already repeating stories. Really uninteresting show this week but there effort from the guys. They just needed better material to work with.

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Thunder
Date: October 15, 1998
Location: Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall

WCW is in a bad place right now as their last two shows have been very, very boring. For some reason this show doesn’t exactly instill me with confidence as Thunder becomes less and less important every single week. We’re ten days away from Halloween Havoc which still feels like it’s about a year away given how boring these shows have been lately. Let’s get to it.

Hammer vs. Sick Boy

Sick Boy comes out to no music. They didn’t have 247 generic rock songs available? Hammer shoves him into the corner to start and tells Sick Boy not to freak out. Sick Boy takes him into the corner and slaps Hammer into the corner, earning him an elbow into the jaw. Hammer clotheslines him out to the floor and hits a nice dive for a guy his size.

Sick Boy scores with a baseball slide and drops Hammer before putting on a sleeper. The announcers talk about ANYTHING other than this boring match. Hammer counters into a sleeper of his own Sick Boy comes out with a jawbreaker. A middle rope elbow gets two for Sick Boy but Hammer throws him off the top by the hair in a painful looking move. Back up and the Flashback (Alabama Slam) is good for the pin on the sick one.

Rating: D. The match wasn’t horrible but it just wasn’t interesting at all. That’s the problem with most of the matches on Thunder anymore. I’ve seen far worse matches, but it doesn’t mean I want to sit through them at all. This was another double taping so I can’t imagine how bored the fans must be at this point.

Video on the Horsemen.

We see clips from Monday with Bischoff trying to keep the Horsemen out of the arena. By clips, I mean everything that happened, running about seven and a half minutes total. It’s becoming more and more clear that they’re just filling stuff in here.

La Parka vs. Konnan

Konnan does his usual schtick followed by the rolling clothesline and seated dropkick. At least the fans care about the people in this match. Back up and Konnan decks him with a back elbow but walks into what might have been a low blow. La Parka chops away and hits a running clothesline followed by a spinwheel kick.

He loads up another charge into the corner but runs into two boots, followed by something resembling a powerbomb from Konnan. La Parka clotheslines him down but gets rolled up for tow more. Konnan grabs a bulldog and gets in a slightly low kick of his own before the X-Factor and Tequila Sunrise get the win.

Rating: D+. Again, this was just two guys doing moves to each other for about five minutes. It’s not a terrible match or anything but there’s just no reason to care at all about this. Konnan could at least keep a crowd going well enough and La Parka is always entertaining but there’s just nothing to see here.

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Riggs vs. Finlay

Finlay hammers away to start but walks into an armdrag. With nothing else to do, Finlay rakes the one eye he can see, causing Heenan to go into as many jokes as he can. At least it’s better than hearing about Hogan vs. Warrior the entire time. Finlay grabs a quick chinlock but Riggs fights up and dropkicks him down before they choke each other against the ropes. A clothesline puts Riggs down and Finlay rams his head into the mat.

We go outside for more punishment from Finlay including a kick to the head. Back in and Finlay hammers away with whatever he can think of and rips the patch off to work over the eye. Riggs blocks a top rope splash with some raised knees and gets two off a knee drop. A top rope ax handle misses though and Finlay tombstones him down for the pin.

Rating: D. This was similar to the first match in that it wasn’t terrible but it just wasn’t interesting at all. As usual, Riggs continues to be someone who is just there and could have been any one of about a dozen guys and not changed a thing. Finlay was his usual hard hitting self but that’s not enough to carry a six minute match.

Cruiserweight Title: Kaz Hayashi vs. Kidman

Kidman is defending. Kaz grabs a headlock to start but misses a spinwheel kick. He comes back with a headscissors and we get a standoff. Kidman sends him outside and hits a nice plancha before taking him back inside for some right hands against the ropes. Kaz backdrops him out to the floor and hits a nice twisting plancha to put both guys down. Back in again and Hayashi chops him down a few times before we take a break.

We come back with Kidman getting two off a sunset flip but getting kneed in the head to put Kaz back in control. Kaz misses a moonsault and gets bulldogged off the middle rope. Kidman puts him down with a sitout powerbomb but Kaz pops up to break up the Shooting Star. He breaks it up again and hits a jawbreaker off the top in a nice spot. Hayashi gets two off a spinwheel kick Sonny Onoo comes out. Kidman dropkicks him out of the air but gets caught in a quick hurricanrana for two. A German suplex gets two on Kidman and Sonny is shaking his head. Kidman slams him down and hits the Shooting Star for the pin.

Rating: C+. It was good but nothing we haven’t seen done better by Juventud. Kaz was yet another name on the very long list of cruiserweights that could be inserted into a match with the bigger names and have a good match. Some of the spots were good here and while it wasn’t a great match, it was about ten times better than anything else tonight so far.

Sonny beats up Kaz post match until Kidman makes a save.

We get clips from Nitro with Buff and Scott having their argument.

Chucky clip. I would love to hear that being pitched to Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair.

Hogan vs. Warrior video.

Here’s Ernest Miller to challenge anyone to fight him. He talks a lot of trash until a “fan” comes into the ring and is allowed to stand behind him until Miller lays him out. Security takes the guy away.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Prince Iaukea

Chavo rides Pepe around to start and dances a bit before we get going. A shoulder block puts the Prince down and we get more dancing. Chavo pounds away in the corner but gets caught by chops and a dropkick. Iaukea sends him to the floor and it’s time to talk to the horse. Chavo waves Pepe at the Prince and talks to it some more before heading back inside for a test of strength.

They trade some nice counters until Chavo armdrags him down into a chinlock. To keep up the comedy, Chavo gives the Prince a wet willy to the indifference of the crowd. Iaukea reverses into a chinlock of his own, sending Chavo off to talk to Pepe. The Prince grabs the horse and Chavo begs for mercy, only to blast Prince in the back of the head.

Chavo slams Iaukea down and rides the horse around before peppering him with some European uppercuts. Prince comes back with a quick cross body for two and a victory roll for the same. Guerrero gets a knee up in the corner and goes up for the tornado DDT and the pin.

Rating: C. This was much easier to sit through as it at least had something entertaining to it. I’d much rather watch a not very funny comedy match than a boring wrestling match and it was much easier to sit through this. Chavo and the horse are getting a bit tiresome but at least it’s not Finlay vs. Riggs.

Bride of Chucky ad.

WCW Mastercard ad. 1998 was a strange time.

Video on Page vs. Goldberg. You know, a wrestling match. I know you’d rather see ads for movies and credit cards but they had to fit this in there somewhere.

Here’s Page for his weekly chat. Page is all fired up for the title match and is jacked up tonight. He’s happy just being himself instead of being undefeated with all the pressure on him. Page has two words for Goldberg: Diamond Cutter. Again, simple stuff here.

Stevie Ray vs. Dean Malenko

Here’s your main event. Dean yells at Vincent and Ray gets in a cheap shot to take over. A big boot sends Dean to the floor and Ray throws on a bearhug as we take a break about a minute in. Back with Dean getting sideslammed and put in a chinlock with a knee in his spine. Dean fights up but gets elbowed down and put right back in the hold.

Malenko fights up again and gets a quick belly to back suplex but Stevie powers him into the corner. Stevie whips him across but Dean jumps to the top for a missile dropkick of all things. He loads up the Cloverleaf but Vincent comes in for the DQ. Too much was in the commercial but this was your usual NWO main event.

Scott Norton comes in to help with the beatdown but the Horsemen run out for the save. Arn says the NWO is trespassing here in Horsemen country and if they want a war, the Horsemen are going to win. Flair says that Bischoff is just an abuse of power and the Horsemen aren’t afraid of subpoenas. Malenko survived a beating like that because he’s a member of the most elite group in wrestling. Dean says he’s ready for any member of the NWO because that’s what a Horseman does. Flair promises to take Bischoff’s job and run this company, prompting Heenan to suck up even more as the show ends.

Overall Rating: D+. It’s still not a good show and not a show that you need to see, but this was far easier to sit through than most of these shows. Just throwing a pair of watchable cruiserweight matches out there was such a breath of fresh air tonight and gave you the break from all the boring matches that you never get on Thunder. I’m not going to think about this show again five minutes after it’s over, but at least I wasn’t miserable sitting through it.

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